US7833871B2 - Laser annealing method and device - Google Patents

Laser annealing method and device Download PDF

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US7833871B2
US7833871B2 US11/916,687 US91668706A US7833871B2 US 7833871 B2 US7833871 B2 US 7833871B2 US 91668706 A US91668706 A US 91668706A US 7833871 B2 US7833871 B2 US 7833871B2
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laser beam
substrate
semiconductor film
side direction
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US20100022102A1 (en
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Ryusuke Kawakami
Kenichirou Nishida
Norihito Kawaguchi
Miyuki Masaki
Atsushi Yoshinouchi
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Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co Ltd
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Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co Ltd
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02104—Forming layers
    • H01L21/02365—Forming inorganic semiconducting materials on a substrate
    • H01L21/02656—Special treatments
    • H01L21/02664—Aftertreatments
    • H01L21/02667—Crystallisation or recrystallisation of non-monocrystalline semiconductor materials, e.g. regrowth
    • H01L21/02675—Crystallisation or recrystallisation of non-monocrystalline semiconductor materials, e.g. regrowth using laser beams
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B23—MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B23K—SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM
    • B23K26/00—Working by laser beam, e.g. welding, cutting or boring
    • B23K26/02—Positioning or observing the workpiece, e.g. with respect to the point of impact; Aligning, aiming or focusing the laser beam
    • B23K26/06—Shaping the laser beam, e.g. by masks or multi-focusing
    • B23K26/0604—Shaping the laser beam, e.g. by masks or multi-focusing by a combination of beams
    • B23K26/0613—Shaping the laser beam, e.g. by masks or multi-focusing by a combination of beams having a common axis
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B23—MACHINE TOOLS; METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B23K—SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM
    • B23K26/00—Working by laser beam, e.g. welding, cutting or boring
    • B23K26/02—Positioning or observing the workpiece, e.g. with respect to the point of impact; Aligning, aiming or focusing the laser beam
    • B23K26/06—Shaping the laser beam, e.g. by masks or multi-focusing
    • B23K26/073—Shaping the laser spot
    • B23K26/0732—Shaping the laser spot into a rectangular shape
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02104—Forming layers
    • H01L21/02365—Forming inorganic semiconducting materials on a substrate
    • H01L21/02656—Special treatments
    • H01L21/02664—Aftertreatments
    • H01L21/02667—Crystallisation or recrystallisation of non-monocrystalline semiconductor materials, e.g. regrowth
    • H01L21/02675—Crystallisation or recrystallisation of non-monocrystalline semiconductor materials, e.g. regrowth using laser beams
    • H01L21/02678—Beam shaping, e.g. using a mask
    • H01L21/0268—Shape of mask
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02104—Forming layers
    • H01L21/02365—Forming inorganic semiconducting materials on a substrate
    • H01L21/02656—Special treatments
    • H01L21/02664—Aftertreatments
    • H01L21/02667—Crystallisation or recrystallisation of non-monocrystalline semiconductor materials, e.g. regrowth
    • H01L21/02691—Scanning of a beam
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/04—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer
    • H01L21/18—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof the devices having potential barriers, e.g. a PN junction, depletion layer or carrier concentration layer the devices having semiconductor bodies comprising elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table or AIIIBV compounds with or without impurities, e.g. doping materials
    • H01L21/26—Bombardment with radiation
    • H01L21/263—Bombardment with radiation with high-energy radiation
    • H01L21/268—Bombardment with radiation with high-energy radiation using electromagnetic radiation, e.g. laser radiation
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H10D—INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
    • H10D86/00—Integrated devices formed in or on insulating or conducting substrates, e.g. formed in silicon-on-insulator [SOI] substrates or on stainless steel or glass substrates
    • H10D86/01—Manufacture or treatment
    • H10D86/021—Manufacture or treatment of multiple TFTs
    • H10D86/0221—Manufacture or treatment of multiple TFTs comprising manufacture, treatment or patterning of TFT semiconductor bodies
    • H10D86/0223—Manufacture or treatment of multiple TFTs comprising manufacture, treatment or patterning of TFT semiconductor bodies comprising crystallisation of amorphous, microcrystalline or polycrystalline semiconductor materials
    • H10D86/0229—Manufacture or treatment of multiple TFTs comprising manufacture, treatment or patterning of TFT semiconductor bodies comprising crystallisation of amorphous, microcrystalline or polycrystalline semiconductor materials characterised by control of the annealing or irradiation parameters
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H10D—INORGANIC ELECTRIC SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
    • H10D86/00—Integrated devices formed in or on insulating or conducting substrates, e.g. formed in silicon-on-insulator [SOI] substrates or on stainless steel or glass substrates
    • H10D86/01—Manufacture or treatment
    • H10D86/021—Manufacture or treatment of multiple TFTs
    • H10D86/0251—Manufacture or treatment of multiple TFTs characterised by increasing the uniformity of device parameters

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a technique of reforming amorphous semiconductor film such as a silicon film into a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film by irradiating a rectangular laser beam onto the amorphous semiconductor film on a substrate in fabricating a semiconductor device, and a technique of improving the quality of a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film by irradiating a rectangular laser beam onto the polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film on a substrate.
  • a film prepared by solid-phase growth or a film prepared by laser annealing As an original polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film whose quality is to be improved, there is a film prepared by solid-phase growth or a film prepared by laser annealing. Improvement of the quality of a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film means (1) increasing the size of crystal grains, (2) decreasing defects in crystal grains, and (3) crystallization of an amorphous portion remaining among crystal grains.
  • TFT thin film transistor
  • an amorphous semiconductor film such as an amorphous silicon film
  • an amorphous silicon film is usually transformed into a polycrystalline or monocrystalline silicon film crystallized by laser annealing.
  • a laser beam whose cross section perpendicular to the advancing direction is a rectangle (hereinafter called “rectangular laser beam”) is often used.
  • a rectangular laser beam is irradiated on an amorphous silicon film while moving the substrate having the amorphous silicon film formed thereon in a short-side direction of the rectangle.
  • Patent Document 1 A method of forming a polycrystalline or monocrystalline silicon film with a rectangular laser beam is disclosed in Patent Document 1 described below, for example.
  • Non-patent Documents 2 and 3 described below show techniques relevant to the present invention. Those documents describe that when a polarized laser beam is irradiated onto a solid surface, a surface electromagnetic wave is excited on the solid surface and interference of the surface electromagnetic wave with the incident laser beam generates a standing wave on the solid surface, thereby forming a micro periodic structure on the solid surface.
  • a laser annealing method for executing laser annealing by irradiating a semiconductor film formed on a surface of a substrate with a laser beam, the method including the steps of:
  • a standing wave is generated on the semiconductor film in the long-side direction which is a polarization direction, thus producing the periodic energy of the standing wave or a temperature gradient corresponding thereto.
  • laser annealing is performed on an amorphous semiconductor film by this method, therefore, nucleuses are generated at troughs of the periodic energy, so that the individual nucleuses grow in a direction of a higher temperature and those portions where the nucleuses collide with one another become crystal grain boundaries.
  • nucleuses generated at periodic positions are grown by the influence of the same temperature gradient in the long-side direction, therefore, it is possible to form a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film comprising crystal grains with a uniform size in the long-side direction.
  • a laser annealing device which executes laser annealing by irradiating a semiconductor film formed on a surface of a substrate with a laser beam, including:
  • short-side polarized beam generating means that generates a linearly polarized rectangular laser beam whose cross section perpendicular to an advancing direction is a rectangle with an electric field directed toward a short-side direction of the rectangle or an elliptically polarized rectangular laser beam having a major axis directed toward a short-side direction, and causes the rectangular laser beam to be introduced to a surface of the semiconductor film (claim 6 ).
  • a standing wave is generated on the surface of the semiconductor film by scattered light of an introduced incident rectangular laser beam at the surface of the semiconductor film and the introduced incident rectangular laser beam, making it possible to form a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film comprised of crystals with a uniform size in the direction of the standing wave.
  • a standing wave is generated on the semiconductor film in the short-side direction which is a polarization direction or a standing wave is intensely generated in the major axial direction of elliptically polarized light, thus producing the periodic energy of the standing wave or a temperature gradient corresponding thereto.
  • laser annealing is performed on an amorphous semiconductor film by this method and device, therefore, nucleuses are generated at troughs of the periodic energy, so that the individual nucleuses grow in a direction of a higher temperature and those portions where the nucleuses collide with one another become crystal grain boundaries.
  • nucleuses generated at periodic positions are grown by the influence of the same temperature gradient in the short-side direction, therefore, it is possible to form a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film comprising crystal grains with a uniform size in the short-side direction.
  • the crystal is grown by the influence of the periodic temperature gradient in the short-side direction, thus improving the quality of a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film such that the sizes of crystal grains in the short-side direction become uniform.
  • the method includes a step of irradiating a surface of the semiconductor film on the substrate with the rectangular laser beam while transferring the substrate in a direction perpendicular to a long side of the rectangular laser beam,
  • an incident angle of the rectangular laser beam to the semiconductor film is adjusted in such that the incident angle is increased in a transfer direction of the substrate or a direction opposite to the transfer direction of the substrate (claim 3 ).
  • the crystal grain size in the short-side direction increases as the incident angle is increased in the transfer direction of the substrate, whereas the crystal grain size in the short-side direction decreases as the incident angle is increased in the opposite direction to the transfer direction of the substrate.
  • adjusting the incident angle can adjust the crystal grain size in the short-side direction.
  • the crystal grain size in the short-side direction can be made about the same as the size of crystal grains formed in the long-side direction by adjusting the incident angle.
  • a laser annealing method for executing laser annealing by irradiating a semiconductor film formed on a surface of a substrate with a laser beam, the method including the steps of:
  • a laser annealing device which executes laser annealing by irradiating a semiconductor film formed on a surface of a substrate with a laser beam, including:
  • a pulse controller that controls the first and second laser oscillators so as to make laser pulse output timings of the first and second laser oscillators different from each other;
  • first polarization means that transforms the laser beam from the first laser oscillator to linearly polarized light
  • second polarization means that transforms the laser beam from the second laser oscillator to linearly polarized light
  • beam combining means that combines the laser beam from the first laser oscillator and the laser beam from the second laser oscillator
  • rectangular beam generating means that turns a laser beam from the beam combining means to a rectangular laser beam whose cross section perpendicular to an advancing direction is a rectangle
  • first polarization means polarizes the laser beam in a long-side direction of the rectangle
  • second polarization means polarizes the laser beam in a short-side direction of the rectangle
  • standing waves directed perpendicular to each other which is caused by scattered light of an introduced incident rectangular laser beam at the surface of the semiconductor film and the introduced incident rectangular laser beam, are alternately generated on the surface of the semiconductor film, making it possible to form a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film comprised of crystals with a uniform size in the direction of each standing wave.
  • standing waves are alternately generated on the semiconductor film in the long-side direction and the short-side direction which are polarization directions, thus producing the periodic energy of the standing wave or a temperature gradient corresponding thereto.
  • laser annealing is performed on an amorphous semiconductor film by this method and device, therefore, nucleuses are generated at troughs of the periodic energy, so that the individual nucleuses grow in directions of a higher temperature and those portions where the nucleuses collide with one another become crystal grain boundaries.
  • nucleuses generated at periodic positions are grown by the influence of the same temperature gradients in the long-side direction and the short-side direction, therefore, it is possible to form a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film comprising crystal grains with uniform sizes in the long-side direction and the short-side direction.
  • the crystal is grown by the influence of the periodic temperature gradient in the long-side direction and the short-side direction, thus improving the quality of a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film such that the sizes of crystal grains in the long-side direction and the short-side direction become uniform.
  • an energy density of the rectangular laser beam or a short-side width of the rectangular laser beam is adjusted to adjust a size of a crystal grain of a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film to be formed (claim 5 ).
  • a laser annealing method for executing laser annealing by irradiating a semiconductor film formed on a surface of a substrate with a laser beam, the method including the steps of:
  • a laser annealing device which executes laser annealing by irradiating a semiconductor film formed on a surface of a substrate with a laser beam, including:
  • beam combining means that combines the laser beam from the first laser oscillator and the laser beam from the second laser oscillator
  • rectangular beam generating means that turns a laser beam from the beam combining means to a rectangular laser beam whose cross section perpendicular to an advancing direction is a rectangle, and causing the rectangular laser beam to be introduced onto the substrate,
  • a polarization direction of the laser beam from the first laser oscillator and a polarization direction of the laser beam from the second laser oscillator being perpendicular to each other at a position of incidence to the substrate (claim 12 ).
  • standing waves directed perpendicular to each other which caused by scattered light of an introduced incident rectangular laser beam at the surface of the semiconductor film and the introduced incident rectangular laser beam, are generated on the surface of the semiconductor film, making it possible to form a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film comprised of crystals with a uniform size in the direction of each standing wave.
  • standing waves are generated on the semiconductor film in polarization directions perpendicular to each other, thus producing the periodic energy of the standing wave or a temperature gradient corresponding thereto.
  • a laser annealing method for executing laser annealing by irradiating a semiconductor film formed on a surface of a substrate with a laser beam, the method including the steps of:
  • a standing wave is generated on the surface of the semiconductor film in the polarization direction by scattered light of an introduced incident rectangular laser beam at the surface of the semiconductor film and the introduced incident rectangular laser beam. Because a rectangular laser beam is a circularly polarized beam, the standing wave takes a circular motion on a plane perpendicular to the advancing direction of light. Accordingly, the periodic energy of the standing wave or a temperature gradient corresponding thereto is produced uniformly in every direction on the surface of the semiconductor film.
  • nucleuses are generated at troughs of the periodic energy, so that the individual nucleuses grow in a direction of a higher temperature and those portions where the nucleuses collide with one another become crystal grain boundaries.
  • nucleuses generated at periodic positions are grown by the influence of the periodic temperature gradients produced uniformly in every direction, therefore, it is possible to form a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film comprising crystal grains with a uniform size in every direction. As a result, the crystal grain sizes become uniform between the long-side direction and the short-side direction.
  • a laser oscillator that outputs a linearly polarized laser beam
  • unpolarization means that turns the laser beam from the laser oscillator to unpolarized light
  • rectangular beam generating means that turns the laser beam from the unpolarization means to a rectangular laser beam whose cross section perpendicular to an advancing direction is a rectangle, and causes the rectangular laser beam to be introduced onto the substrate (claim 14 ).
  • a laser beam output from a laser oscillator is often linearly polarized
  • the linearly polarized laser beam is turned into unpolarized light to be introduced to the substrate according to the method and device, a standing wave is not produced on the surface of the semiconductor film on the substrate.
  • the crystal grains grow in a random direction, thereby suppressing an increase in the sizes of crystal grains only in a specific direction.
  • the sizes of the crystal grains of the semiconductor film are generally made uniform, so that the quality of the polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film is improved so as to make the crystal grain size uniform between the long-side direction and the short-side direction.
  • FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an energy distribution in the long-side direction of a rectangular laser beam in a conventional art.
  • FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the size of crystal grains acquired by a conventional method.
  • FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of a short-side optical system provided in a laser annealing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIGS. 6A and 6B show energy distributions in the long-side direction of rectangular laser beams.
  • FIGS. 7A and 7B show energy distributions in the short-side direction of rectangular laser beams.
  • FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of transferring a substrate while irradiating a rectangular laser beam.
  • FIGS. 9A , 9 B and 9 C are diagrams showing the relationships between an energy distribution in the long-side direction produced on the surface of a substrate by irradiation of a rectangular laser beam polarized in the long-side direction, and the size of crystal grains to be formed.
  • FIG. 10 is a status diagram of the size of crystal grains acquired experimentally by irradiating a rectangular beam polarized in the long-side direction.
  • FIG. 11 is a status diagram of the size of crystal grains acquired experimentally by irradiating a rectangular beam of a high energy density polarized in the long-side direction.
  • FIGS. 12A , 12 B and 12 C are diagrams showing the relationships between an energy distribution in the short-side direction produced on the surface of a substrate by irradiation of a rectangular laser beam polarized in the short-side direction, and the size of crystal grains to be formed.
  • FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the size of crystal grains acquired by irradiation of a rectangular laser beam polarized in the short-side direction.
  • FIGS. 14A and 14B are explanatory diagrams of a case where a rectangular laser beam polarized in the short-side direction is introduced obliquely.
  • FIG. 15 is a status diagram showing the size of crystal grains acquired experimentally by irradiation of a rectangular laser beam polarized in the short-side direction.
  • FIG. 16 is a status diagram showing the size of crystal grains acquired experimentally by irradiation of a rectangular laser beam of a high energy density polarized in the short-side direction.
  • FIG. 17 is a structural diagram of a laser annealing device according to a third embodiment to irradiate a substrate with a rectangular laser beam whole alternately changing the polarization direction to the long-side direction and the short-side direction.
  • FIGS. 18A and 18B are diagrams for explaining adjustment of the polarization direction.
  • FIG. 19 is a structural diagram of a laser annealing device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.
  • the period of the periodic micro structure is about the wavelength of the laser beam introduced to the silicon substrate.
  • a laser beam introduced to a solid from air is scattered by minute irregularity on the solid surface, causing a surface electromagnetic wave to be excited between a solid medium and air.
  • the electric field of the surface electromagnetic wave and the electric field of the incident laser beam interfere with each other, generating a standing wave having a period of the wavelength or so of the laser beam on the solid surface.
  • Ablation by the standing wave causes a periodic micro structure to be formed at the solid surface.
  • the present invention performs a laser annealing process on a semiconductor film, such as a silicon film, using the periodic energy distribution of the standing wave generated by interference of the surface electromagnetic wave with the incident laser beam. More specifically, a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film comprising crystal grains grown to a uniform size is formed by controlling the growth of the crystal grains using the periodic energy distribution.
  • FIGS. 4 and 5 show the configuration of a laser annealing device which performs an annealing process on an amorphous silicon film on a substrate 1 , such as a semiconductor device.
  • the laser annealing device has an optical system for generating a rectangular laser beam.
  • the optical system comprises a long-side optical system 2 corresponding to the long-side direction of the rectangular laser beam and a short-side optical system 4 .
  • FIG. 4 shows the structure of the long-side optical system 2
  • FIG. 5 shows the structure of the short-side optical system 4 .
  • Same reference numerals in FIGS. 4 and 5 indicate optical elements shared by the long-side optical system 2 and the short-side optical system 4 .
  • the laser annealing device has a laser oscillator (not shown) which outputs a laser beam, a polarizer 5 which linearly polarizes the laser beam output from the laser oscillator, and an beam expander 7 which generates a rectangular laser beam whose cross section perpendicular to an advancing direction is a rectangle.
  • a laser oscillator not shown
  • a polarizer 5 which linearly polarizes the laser beam output from the laser oscillator
  • an beam expander 7 which generates a rectangular laser beam whose cross section perpendicular to an advancing direction is a rectangle.
  • the long-side direction and the short-side direction of the rectangular cross section of the rectangular laser beam are simply called “long-side direction” and “short-side direction”, respectively.
  • the beam expander 7 expands the introduced laser beam in the long-side direction.
  • the laser annealing device further has a cylindrical lens array 9 to which the laser beam expanded in the long-side direction is introduced.
  • the laser annealing device has a long-side condenser lens 11 which adjusts the long-side directional length of the rectangular laser beam having passed the cylindrical lens array 9 in the long-side direction on the substrate 1 , and a short-side condenser lens 12 which condenses the rectangular laser beam having passed the cylindrical lens array 9 with respect to the short-side direction on the substrate 1 .
  • FIG. 6A shows an energy distribution having a width A of a laser beam in the long-side direction before passing the beam expander 7
  • FIG. 6B shows an energy distribution having a width A′ in the long-side direction at the time of irradiating an amorphous silicon film
  • FIG. 7A shows an energy distribution having a width B of a laser beam in the short-side direction before passing the beam expander 7
  • FIG. 7B shows an energy distribution having a width B′ in the short-side direction at the time of irradiating an amorphous silicon film.
  • the energy of the rectangular laser beam at the time of irradiation is substantially constant in the long-side direction.
  • a laser beam is linearly polarized by the polarizer 5 but the direction of polarization is in the long-side direction. That is, the electric field of the rectangular laser beam to be irradiated onto an amorphous silicon film is directed in the long-side direction.
  • a laser beam may be linearly polarized by another method, instead of the polarizer 5 , such as reflecting the rectangular laser beam at a glass surface or the like at a Brewster's angle to be linearly polarized.
  • the energy period of the standing wave becomes about the wavelength of the rectangular laser beam. Therefore, the desired crystal grain size in the long-side direction can be obtained by selecting the wavelength of the rectangular laser beam to be used in the irradiation.
  • the substrate 1 is moved in the short-side direction at a predetermined speed as in the first embodiment. This allows the rectangular laser beam polarized in the short-side direction to be irradiated onto the entire amorphous silicon film.
  • the rectangular laser beam introduced to the amorphous silicon film is scattered by minute irregularity on the amorphous silicon film, thus exciting a surface electromagnetic wave.
  • the interference of the surface electromagnetic wave with the introduced incident rectangular laser beam generates a standing wave at the surface of the amorphous silicon film in the short-side direction. Therefore, the standing wave has a periodic energy in the short-side direction.
  • the energy distribution of the introduced rectangular laser beam in the short-side direction becomes as shown in FIG. 7B .
  • the periodic energy distribution of the standing wave is superimposed on the energy distribution of the rectangular laser beam in the short-side direction to become an energy distribution on the amorphous silicon film.
  • a curve represented by a solid line in FIG. 12A indicates the energy distribution of the standing wave combined with the energy distribution of the introduced rectangular laser beam (a curve indicated by a broken line).
  • a temperature distribution corresponding to the energy distribution in FIG. 12A is produced in the short-side direction of silicon melted by the energy distribution.
  • crystal nucleuses are produced at positions of troughs of the energy distribution. Thereafter, the crystal nucleuses grow toward locations with a higher temperature in the short-side direction, and locations at which their crystals collide one another to stop the growth become crystal grain boundaries.
  • polycrystalline or monocrystalline silicon comprising crystals with a uniform size in the short-side direction is formed as shown in FIG. 12C .
  • the energy period of the standing wave becomes about the wavelength of the rectangular laser beam. Therefore, the short-side directional size of the crystal grains to be formed becomes the interval of nodes or loops of the standing wave, i.e., about half the wavelength of the rectangular laser beam. Therefore, the desired crystal grain size in the short-side direction can be acquired by selecting the wavelength of the rectangular laser beam to be used in irradiation.
  • crystal nucleuses are produced at random positions in the long-side direction, thus forming crystal grains grown to random sizes in the long-side direction.
  • the size of the crystal grains grown in the long-side direction becomes several hundred nanometers or so.
  • the use of the wavelength of several hundred nanometers or so can make the sizes of the crystal grains in the long-side direction and the short-side direction approximately equal to each other. It is therefore preferable to select the wavelength of the rectangular laser beam such that the crystal grain size becomes about the long-side directional crystal grain size of polycrystalline or monocrystalline silicon to be formed. Accordingly, the crystal grain size as shown in FIG. 13 can be acquired.
  • the rectangular laser beam is introduced to the amorphous silicon film with the incident angle of the rectangular laser beam to the amorphous silicon film being adjusted.
  • the short-side directional crystal grain size can be acquired according to the incident angle. That is, the short-side directional crystal grain size can be adjusted by adjusting the incident angle. This will be explained below.
  • an interval X of nodes or loops of the standing wave increases as indicated by an equation 1 where ⁇ is the wavelength of the laser beam.
  • Non-patent Document 1 When the incident angle ⁇ is increased in the opposite direction to the transfer direction of the substrate 1 as shown in FIG. 14B , the interval X of nodes or loops of the standing wave decreases as indicated by an equation 2 where ⁇ is the wavelength of the laser beam.
  • ⁇ is the wavelength of the laser beam.
  • adjusting the incident angle of the rectangular laser beam changes the period of the standing wave, so that polycrystalline or monocrystalline silicon comprising crystal grains with the same size as the energy period of the standing wave in the short-side direction can be formed.
  • the size of crystal grains can be adjusted by adjusting the incident angle of the rectangular laser beam.
  • the optical system side or the substrate side can be tilted.
  • the entire optical system is tilted by a tilting device.
  • the transfer table for transferring the substrate 1 is tilted by a tilting device.
  • tilting devices may be any adequate publicly known device.
  • the tilting device that tilts the optical system or the transfer table constitutes incident angle adjusting means.
  • the wavelength of the standing wave to be generated or the short-side directional crystal grain size can be adjusted by adjusting the angle at which the rectangular laser beam is introduced to the amorphous silicon film, instead of selecting the wavelength of a rectangular laser beam or in addition to the selection of the wavelength of a rectangular laser beam.
  • the size of crystal grains to be formed can also be adjusted by changing the energy density of the rectangular laser beam.
  • FIG. 15 shows crystal grains in polycrystalline or monocrystalline silicon acquired by irradiating a rectangular beam with a wavelength of 1 ⁇ m and an electric field directed in the short-side direction onto an amorphous silicon film at an incident angle of 10 degrees to the substrate transfer direction at an energy density of 450 to 500 mJ/cm 2 .
  • FIG. 16 shows crystal grains in polycrystalline or monocrystalline silicon acquired by irradiating a rectangular beam with a wavelength of 1 ⁇ m and an electric field directed in the short-side direction onto an amorphous silicon film at an incident angle of 10 degrees to the substrate transfer direction at an energy density greater than 500 mJ/cm 2 .
  • the crystal grain size in the short-side direction is about 1.0 ⁇ m in FIG. 15 while the crystal grain size in the short-side direction is about 1.5 ⁇ m in FIG. 16 .
  • the energy density is increased, crystal grains with a size greater than the energy period of the standing wave are acquired.
  • FIG. 17 shows the configuration of a laser annealing device according to the third embodiment which forms polycrystalline or monocrystalline silicon by irradiating an amorphous silicon film with a rectangular laser beam whose cross section perpendicular to the advancing direction is a rectangle.
  • the laser annealing device includes a pair of laser oscillators 21 , 22 , polarizers 24 , 25 provided in association with the laser oscillators 21 , 22 , a reflecting mirror 27 which reflects a laser beam from the laser oscillator 21 , and a beam splitter 28 which combines laser beams from the two laser oscillators 21 , 22 .
  • the combined beam from the beam splitter 28 is introduced to an optical system similar to or same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIGS.
  • FIG. 17 shows only the long-side optical system 2 corresponding to FIG. 4 as indicated by a broken line (the polarizer 5 in FIG. 4 not used); the short-side optical system 4 is the same as the one shown in FIG. 5 and is thus omitted.
  • the polarizers 24 , 25 constitute polarization means which may be constituted by other adequate components.
  • the long-side optical system 2 and the short-side optical system 4 used in the third embodiment constitute rectangular laser beam generating means which may be constituted by other adequate components.
  • the beam splitter 28 and the reflecting mirror 27 constitute beam combining means which may be constituted by other adequate components.
  • the polarizers 24 , 25 linearly polarize the laser beams from the laser oscillators 21 , 22 , respectively.
  • the polarization direction of the polarizer 24 is the long-side direction, while the polarization direction of the polarizer 25 is the short-side direction.
  • the laser annealing device further has a pulse controller 29 which controls the laser oscillators 21 , 22 such that the timings of laser pulses output from the laser oscillators 21 , 22 are different from each other. Therefore, the polarization direction of the laser beam combined by the beam splitter 28 is alternately changed between the long-side direction and the short-side direction.
  • the laser annealing device further has a transfer device which transfers the substrate 1 in the short-side direction at a predetermined speed as in the first embodiment.
  • the long-side directional energy distribution at locations on the substrate 1 at which the rectangular laser beam with an electric field direction directed in the long-side direction is irradiated is the same as the one shown in FIG. 9A
  • the short-side directional energy distribution at locations on the substrate 1 at which the rectangular laser beam with an electric field direction directed in the short-side direction is irradiated is the same as the one shown in FIG. 12A . Therefore, temperature distributions corresponding to the energy distributions in FIGS. 9A and 12A are respectively produced in the long-side direction and the short-side direction of molten silicon. Therefore, nucleuses of crystal grains are generated at locations which are cooled to the critical temperature of nucleus generation in the solidification process of molten silicon.
  • the nucleus generated locations are positions of troughs of the periodic energy distributions in FIGS. 9A and 12A . Those crystal nucleuses grow in the long-side direction and the short-side direction to the higher-temperature portions. The locations at each of which nucleuses collide with each other to stop the growth are crystal grain boundaries. Consequently, polycrystalline or monocrystalline silicon comprising crystals with uniform sizes in the long-side direction and the short-side direction is formed.
  • the crystal grain size may also be adjusted by changing the energy density of the rectangular laser beam.
  • a laser annealing device according to the fourth embodiment is similar to or the same as the laser annealing device of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 17 .
  • the pulse controller 29 may not control the laser oscillators 21 , 22 so as to shift the timings of the laser pulses output from the laser oscillators 21 , 22 from each other. That is, while the pulse controller 29 controls the timings of the laser pulses output from the laser oscillators 21 , 22 , the laser pulses output from the laser oscillators 21 , 22 may overlap each other.
  • the laser oscillators 21 , 22 are constructed to output linearly polarized lights, so that the polarizers 24 , 25 in FIG. 17 can be omitted.
  • the laser oscillators 21 , 22 themselves may output linearly polarized lights; otherwise, the polarizers 24 , 25 in FIG. 17 are respectively provided in the laser oscillators 21 , 22 .
  • the laser annealing device is set such that the polarization direction of the laser beam from the first laser oscillator 21 and the polarization direction of the laser beam from the second laser oscillator 22 are perpendicular to each other.
  • standing waves are generated on the amorphous silicon film of the substrate 1 in polarization directions perpendicular to each other, and the periodic energy of the standing wave similar to the one shown in FIG. 9A is produced, thereby producing a temperature gradient corresponding to this energy.
  • crystal nucleuses are produced at the positions of troughs of the periodic energy, the crystal nucleuses grow in a direction of a higher-temperature portion, and the locations at which the crystal nucleuses collide with each other become crystal grain boundaries as in the third embodiment. Therefore, crystal nucleuses produced at periodic positions are grown by the influence of the same temperature gradient produced in the directions perpendicular to each other, so that a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film comprising crystal grains with uniform sizes in the directions perpendicular to each other can be formed. As a result, the crystal grain size becomes uniform between the long-side direction and the short-side direction.
  • FIG. 19 shows the configuration of a laser annealing device according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention which forms polycrystalline or monocrystalline silicon by irradiating an amorphous silicon film with a rectangular laser beam whose cross section perpendicular to the advancing direction is a rectangle.
  • the laser annealing device has the laser oscillator 21 similar to or the same as that of the fourth embodiment, a quarter-wavelength plate 31 which circularly polarizes a linearly polarized laser beam from the laser oscillator 21 , and the aforementioned long-side optical system 2 and short-side optical system 4 (the polarizer 5 in FIGS. 4 and 5 not used) which turn the laser beam from the quarter-wavelength plate 31 to a rectangular laser beam.
  • the short-side optical system 4 is omitted for the sake of simplicity.
  • the quarter-wavelength plate 31 constitutes circular polarization means which may be constituted by another adequate component.
  • the laser oscillator 21 , the circular polarization means, the long-side optical system 2 and the short-side optical system 4 constitute circularly polarized beam generating means which may be constituted by other adequate components.
  • a standing wave produced on the amorphous silicon film takes a circular motion on a plane perpendicular to the advancing direction of light. This makes the periodic energy of the standing wave or a temperature gradient corresponding thereto to be produced uniformly in every direction on the surface of the semiconductor film.
  • nucleuses are generated at troughs of the periodic energy, so that the individual nucleuses grow in the directions to higher-temperature portions and those portions where the nucleuses collide with one another become crystal grain boundaries.
  • nucleuses generated at periodic positions are grown by the influence of the periodic temperature gradients uniformly produced in every direction, therefore, it is possible to form a polycrystalline or monocrystalline semiconductor film comprising crystal grains with a uniform size in every direction. As a result, the crystal grain sizes become uniform between the long-side direction and the short-side direction.
  • a laser annealing device according to the sixth embodiment is similar to or the same as the laser annealing device of the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 19 except for the quarter-wavelength plate 31 .
  • the laser annealing device has a polarization canceling plate which turns a linearly polarized laser beam from the laser oscillator 21 to unpolarized light, instead of the quarter-wavelength plate 31 in FIG. 19 .
  • the polarization canceling plate constitutes unpolarization means which turns linearly polarized light to unpolarized light but which may be constituted by another adequate component.
  • the polarization canceling plate can turn the linearly polarized laser beam from the laser oscillator 21 to an unpolarized laser beam.
  • the unpolarized laser beam from the polarization canceling plate passes through the long-side optical system 2 and the short-side optical system 4 to be a rectangular laser beam. Therefore, the unpolarized rectangular laser beam is introduced to the amorphous silicon film on the substrate 1 .
  • a standing wave is not produced on the surface of the amorphous silicon film on the substrate 1 .
  • crystal grains are generated at random positions, and, what is more, the crystal grains grow in a random direction, thereby suppressing an increase in the sizes of crystal grains only in a specific direction.
  • the sizes of the crystal grains of the semiconductor film are generally made uniform, obtaining a uniform crystal grain size between the long-side direction and the short-side direction.

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US9058994B2 (en) 2015-06-16
KR20080033174A (ko) 2008-04-16
EP1926131A4 (en) 2011-08-03
US8299553B2 (en) 2012-10-30
US20140213071A1 (en) 2014-07-31
TW200717661A (en) 2007-05-01
CN101208778B (zh) 2010-04-21
US20130005123A1 (en) 2013-01-03
US20150348781A1 (en) 2015-12-03
EP1926131A1 (en) 2008-05-28
KR100967072B1 (ko) 2010-07-01
TWI342049B (en) 2011-05-11
US20100022102A1 (en) 2010-01-28
JP2007110064A (ja) 2007-04-26
US8629522B2 (en) 2014-01-14

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